Mark Goddard, best known for playing Major Don West on CBS’
Television series Lost in Space, died Tuesday in Hingham, Mass.,
several days after celebrating his 87th birthday.
He had been hospitalized with pneumonia,” and was transferred
to a rehabilitation center where doctors discovered he was in the
final stages of pulmonary fibrosis for which there is no cure.
Kukla, Fran and Ollie was an early TV show using puppets. It was
created for children, but was soon watched by more adults than
children. It did not have a script and was entirely ad-libbed. It
was broadcast from Chicago between October 13, 1947, and
August 30, 1957. Comedienne Fran Allison starred, interacting
with puppets, Kukla and Ollie (and sometimes other puppets)
whose puppeteer was the show’s creator, Burr Tillstrom. After
the original run, the team appeared in other productions over
several decades.
On October 11, 1975, Saturday Night Live (SNL),featuring Chevy
Chase, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, Garrett Morris,
Jane Curtin and Laraine Newman, made its debut on NBC.
The 90-minute program, which from its inception has been
broadcast live from Studio 8H at Rockefeller Center, includes a
different guest host and musical act each week. The opening
sketch of each show ends with one actor saying, “Live from
New York, it’s Saturday Night!”
Created by the Canadian-born comedy writer Lorne Michaels,
SNL has introduced a long list of memorable characters and catchphrases.
A news update with Gilda Radner and Jane Curtin.
The Coneheads were (from left) Laraine Newman, Jane
Curtain and Dan Akyroyd.
Martin Milner and George Maharis
On October 7, 1960, the first episode of the one-hour television
drama "Route 66" aired on CBS. The program had a simple
premise: It followed two young men, Buz Murdock (George
Maharis) and Tod Stiles (Martin Milner), as they drove across
the country in an inherited Corvette (Chevrolet was one of the
show’s sponsors), doing odd jobs and looking for adventure
while on a journey in search of themselves.
TIM MAGUIRE
On this day in 1962, Johnny Carson took over from Jack
Paar as host of the late-night talk program The Tonight
Show. Carson went on to host The Tonight Show
Starring Johnny Carson for three decade.
JOHNNY CARSON AS CARNAC THE MAGNIFICENT (1978)
